# Basic exemption (maksuvaba tulu) What maksuvaba tulu is: the tax-free part of a person's income in Estonia, 700 euros a month from 01.01.2026, and how an employer applies it. Law as of 30 Sept 2026. General information, not advice for your situation. **Maksuvaba tulu** is the Estonian **basic exemption**: the part of a resident person's income on which no [income tax](https://oscaraccountant.com/en/glossary/income-tax) is paid. People also call it _tulumaksuvaba miinimum_. From 01.01.2026 it is a flat 8 400 euros a year, or 700 euros a month, for every income level ([TuMS § 23 (1)](https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/akt/508052026001)). An employer deducts it from a salary or a board member fee only when the person asks for it in writing. ## Key facts | Fact | Value | Source | | ---------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Amount | 8 400 euros a year, at most 700 euros a month, from 01.01.2026 | [TuMS § 23 (1); § 42 (1)](https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/akt/508052026001) | | Same for every income level | Yes, from 01.01.2026 | [TuMS § 23 (1)](https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/akt/508052026001) | | How it is applied | On the person's written application, to one payer | [TuMS § 42 (1)](https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/akt/508052026001) | | From the year of pension age | 9 312 euros a year (776 euros a month) in place of 8 400 | [TuMS § 23 (1), § 23^5 (1)](https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/akt/508052026001) | ## How the employer applies it The order of the calculation is: gross pay, minus the employee's unemployment insurance premium, minus the funded pension payment, minus the exemption, then 22 percent income tax ([TuMS § 42 (1), (5), (6)](https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/akt/508052026001)). Example for 2026: on a gross salary of 946 euros, with 1.6 percent unemployment insurance and a 2 percent pension payment, the tax is (946 - 15.14 - 18.92 - 700) x 22% = 46.63 euros. The [salary calculator](https://oscaraccountant.com/en/tools/salary-calculator) does this for any salary. A person with several payers gives the application to one payer only. A person who has reached pension age gets the higher exemption from the Social Insurance Board first, on the pension; the employer deducts only what is left, on a written application ([TuMS § 42 (1^3), (2^1)](https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/akt/508052026001)). ## What changed in 2026 Before 2026 the amount of the exemption depended on the person's income. Estonians called that the "tax hump" (_maksuküür_). The wording in force since 01.01.2026 gives the same 8 400 euros at every income level, and the former subsections 2 to 5 of § 23 are repealed ([TuMS § 23](https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/akt/508052026001)). The change comes from the act of 20.06.2023 ([RT I, 30.06.2023, 107](https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/130062023107)), whose start date was moved to 01.01.2026 by the act of RT I, 20.12.2024, 2. General information, not advice for your situation. The law as in force on 30.09.2026. ## Let Oscar do the work Oscar runs your payroll and files the salary tax declaration (TSD) for you. [Join waitlist](https://oscaraccountant.com) ## Sources - [Income Tax Act (Tulumaksuseadus) § 23, § 23^5, § 42](https://www.riigiteataja.ee/en/akt/508052026001) - [Income Tax Act (Tulumaksuseadus), Estonian consolidated text](https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/129042026004) - [Act of 20.06.2023 (RT I, 30.06.2023, 107)](https://www.riigiteataja.ee/akt/130062023107) - [EMTA: Tax changes 2026 (Estonian)](https://www.emta.ee/uudised/maksumuudatused-2026) ## Related pages - [Income tax (tulumaks)](https://oscaraccountant.com/en/glossary/income-tax): What tulumaks is in Estonia: 22 percent on personal income, 22/78 on the profit a company distributes, how it is withheld and when it is paid. - [Social tax (sotsiaalmaks)](https://oscaraccountant.com/en/glossary/social-tax): What sotsiaalmaks is: the 33 percent tax an Estonian employer pays on top of pay, the 2026 minimum base of 886 euros, and how it funds health insurance and pension. - [TSD (income and social tax return)](https://oscaraccountant.com/en/glossary/tsd): What the TSD is: the monthly Estonian return for income tax, social tax, unemployment insurance and the funded pension, due on the 10th of the next month. - [Estonian tax rates 2024 to 2026](https://oscaraccountant.com/en/guides/estonian-tax-rates): Every Estonian business tax rate on one page, by year: corporate and personal income tax, basic exemption, social tax, unemployment insurance, pension, VAT. - [Hiring employees in Estonia: contracts, registration and foreign staff](https://oscaraccountant.com/en/guides/hiring-employees): What an Estonian OÜ must do before its first employee starts: the written contract, fixed terms and probation, the employment register, the minimum wage and the employer cost, family members, board members, non-EU staff and interns. - [Paying yourself as the founder of an Estonian OÜ: board fee, salary and social tax](https://oscaraccountant.com/en/guides/founder-remuneration): How the owner-manager of an Estonian OÜ is paid: the board member fee, a salary, the minimum social tax, health insurance, the basic exemption and the TSD. - [Estonian salary calculator](https://oscaraccountant.com/en/tools/salary-calculator): Work out the net pay and the employer's total cost of an Estonian salary or board member fee, with income tax, the basic exemption, social tax, unemployment insurance and the funded pension. Reviewed on 10 Oct 2026. Law as of 30 Sept 2026. General information, not advice for your situation. --- - [For AI agents](https://oscaraccountant.com/agents) - [Learn](https://oscaraccountant.com/en/learn) - [Guides](https://oscaraccountant.com/en/guides) - [Tools](https://oscaraccountant.com/en/tools) - [Tax treaties](https://oscaraccountant.com/en/tax-treaties) - [Privacy policy](https://oscaraccountant.com/privacy) - [Terms of use](https://oscaraccountant.com/terms) - [Partner program](https://oscaraccountant.com/en/partners) OscarAI OÜ · Registry code 17608438